Despite regularly selling more than most PC titles combined, Football Manager still enjoys a reputation as something of a hardcore game. Largely impenetrable to the non-believer, it's almost obligatory for scoffers to dismiss it as little more than a glorified spreadsheet. However, the comparison is as irrelevant as it is tired - yet to discover a spreadsheet that can keep us entertained for six hours straight. And besides, it's a lot easier to use than a spreadsheet.
Nevertheless, those who have been dissuaded by the seemingly complex interface are being targeted this year, as Football Manager attempts to encroach even further into civilised society. Whereas players were previously stranded with little more than a stuffy manual and their own wits, this year's model will lead them by the hand into its sinister world of football based number crunching.
Eurogamer: "It's a shame when relationships end but it's often for the best. Football Manager and me had it all – long intimate evenings, weekends away, the occasional holiday. I'd thought we never split up. But eventually cracks began to appear, the physical side deteriorated, and we became strangers.
As an early adopter of pretending to manage a football team on a computer (i.e. a semi-autistic weirdo), a chronic addiction to Football Manager seemed my inevitable destiny. My first taste was the original Football Manager on the ZX Spectrum, whose bearded creator, Kevin Toms, appeared beaming on the cassette case cover."
Chris Evans reveals the truth of his younger days playing Football Manager and Championship Manager. His evil underhand tactics to win matches are unveiled for all to see.
The UK's loss of talented developers in the sports genre has been 'utterly huge' according to Miles Jacobson, the studio head of London-based Football Manager developer Sports Interactive.
In an exclusive interview with Develop, Jacobson explained that Canada's exemplary tax break rates – which peak at 40% of dev costs – was the reason why a number of British-born developers now work in cities such as Vancouver and Toronto.
